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A man dressed up as an Easter bunny was spotted driving down Interstate 8 on Saturday morning when officers pulled him over for not properly wearing a helmet.

Motorcycling Easter Bunny Unmasked

A man dressed up as an Easter bunny over the weekend talks about his hoppy adventure. (Published Monday, April 1, 2013)

The bunny -- driving a red motorcycle with a sidecar -- was pulled over on the westbound Interstate 8 at Jackson Drive. Instead of a helmet as required by law, the man was wearing a bunny costume head for a charity event to which he was traveling.

Since then video and pictures from people passing by the Easter bunny has spread all over the internet.

The man behind the mask, Ed Bell, was found by an NBC 7 news crew at a BMW motorcycle shop.

But Bell would only publicly admit that he may have an alter ego that involves that red bike.

"I was kind of taken aback by the huge response it's gotten,” he said.

Bell said the bunny was simply on the way to a charity event to cheer up a sick friend. He attached a bungee cord to the helmet to it could fit on the costume’s head.

"If we felt it was an unsafe action, we wouldn't have done it in the first place,” he said. “Because the last thing anyone needed was a wounded Easter bunny the day before Easter."

While Bell was riding down I-8, he was stopped by a California Highway Patrol officer.

Fortunately for him, the CHP has some holiday spirit and gave him a written warning.

"So, the Easter bunny pulled over, straightened his ears out so he could hear the officer,” Bell said. "They were all professional, polite, courteous. They got into the mood real quick. Gave him a stern warning.”

Bell said the reason he donned the costume was purely comical.

"There's a lot of bad stuff going on this was something people could point to and get a good laugh,” he said.

As for whether this will become a holiday tradition, he says never lose faith in the Easter Bunny.

“Never say never to the Easter Bunny,” he said. “If the Easter bunny does come back, they'll probably have a better helmet, or one more recognizable."